When it comes to public school investment, what's more important: building schools or making sure that the teachers inside them have the resources to be successful?

For most people, this isn't even an issue. Clearly, what goes on inside classrooms is more important than who builds the schools. But when it comes to taxpayer investments in public education, an independent university research study has revealed that school districts across California, including Sacramento City Unified School District and Roseville City Elementary School District, may have overspent millions to build schools, even as school budgets are being slashed.

Sadly, this problem isn't specific to our region, far from it.

The National University System Institute for Policy Research has just released the findings of what is the most expansive study regarding school construction costs in state history. Using cost data provided by school districts across California and statistical analysis validated by the University of Southern California Keston Institute for Public Finance and Infrastructure Policy, they concluded that districts that have adopted special union-only agreements – commonly known as "project labor agreements" – are paying 13 percent to 15 percent more to build schools than if they used a traditional competitive bidding process.

Project labor agreements are essentially mandates that any contractor who works on a project either use union labor or pay into the union's health care and retirement fund, even when there is no chance that the workers on the project can receive those benefits. Proponents claim that the agreements are needed to ensure worker harmony and project accountability while opponents counter that they limit the number of contractors who will bid on a project. To date, the debate on project labor agreements has focused on rhetorical statements from both sides that seek to justify their position. And while philosophy has a place in policy debates, it shouldn't be the sole factor. That's why this study is so important. For the first time, school district officials will have independent and irrefutable data upon which they can make a decision. Similarly, voters who are asked to support school construction bonds have a barometer to gauge their choice.

Here are some examples from the study. Los Angeles Unified School District, America's second largest district, built at least 47 projects using project labor agreements at a cost of more than $1.2 billion. The study's conclusions suggest that they could have saved more than $166 million with an open process. Sacramento City Unified School District had two PLA construction projects in the study that cost more than $35 million. Figuring the study's 13 percent increase due to a PLA, the additional expense was more than $4 million. Likewise, Roseville City Elementary School District built two schools for a total of $37 million under a private developer's union-only project labor agreements, which perhaps increased the cost by $5 million. Granted, cost should never be the sole factor driving construction decisions, but given that districts across California are laying off teachers, slashing extracurricular spending and charging parents for sports, transportation and other programs, spending every penny wisely is important.

Given this data, if I were in charge of a school district, here is what I would do. If we needed to build a new school or modernize an existing facility, I would encourage all contractors to bid on the project. I would prohibit any discrimination against union contractors or other licensed construction firms. And I'd make sure that every bidder was evaluated on the merits of their proposal, the history of their performance and the benefit to my teachers, students and taxpayers who are paying the bills.

To my conservative friends, I'd say, "I'm hiring union" if their bid was best. And to my liberal friends, I'd say, "sorry, can't work with you this time" if another contractor was the best choice. That's the point. Political ideology has no business in anything other than history books. And that's the biggest benefit of the national study. It's all about dollars and cents.

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Eric Hogue is a talk show host on KTKZ (1380 AM) in Sacramento and vice president of advancement at William Jessup University.

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